UK end-of-the-world shop,are YOU ready?

[mackem 23,736]

Apocalypse Now: Inside the UK’s Only One-Stop Shop for the End of the World
Customers can get anything they need to survive a major catastrophe—and business is booming

On a remote farm a two-hour drive from London, 24-year-old Lincoln Miles prepares for the apocalypse. “Oh yes, it is coming in some shape,” he tells me without hesitation. “The tensions with Russia at the minute, the tensions in Europe — we are on the brink of war.”

It was in that spirit six years ago that Miles, an entrepreneurial father of one, decided to set up Britain’s first prepper store, a one-stop place where those who believe in being prepared for an emergency situation can buy anything to survive on their own for “at least the first 72 hours.”

Items for sale include gas masks, blades of different sizes, water purification devices, waterproof notebooks, machetes, even crossbows. His business, especially in the current political and economic climate, is booming. In the week following the Brexit vote in June 2016, orders went up about 40 percent.

According to Miles, “There were a lot of people who would never normally be into outdoors bushcraft survival sort of coming in saying, ‘I’m worried. If the economy collapses tomorrow, we are stuck. Help us out. What kind of [survival] bag can we put aside so we don’t have to worry about anything?’”

Prepping, or survivalism, is an American concept. Its official definition is “the practice of making active preparations for a possible disaster or emergency, typically by stockpiling food, ammunition, and other supplies.” In the United States, with its culture of self-reliance and distrust of government institutions, prepping has been around since pretty much the founding of the nation.

In the UK, however, Miles seems to have spotted a gap in the market. Britain’s prepping industry is still in its infancy, but over the past few years the number of people who believe the end is nigh is estimated to have grown to the thousands.

One can’t tell business is thriving by spending a morning at Miles’ store, however: In the three hours I was there, only one customer came in. “Most of the orders are placed online,” Miles says almost apologetically.

The lone customer was 34-year-old father of two Ben Hartley. A survivalist enthusiast for years, Hartley wasn’t really looking for anything in particular, just “whatever is new.” But he assured me that if the the world as we know it ended tomorrow, he’d know exactly what to do.

“There’s an element to society who don’t feel like they have to work for anything—they can just take what they want,” he says. “I can defend myself and my family to a point, but against overwhelming odds, who knows? I know at least I would have a fighting chance.”

On one hand, preppers sound a bit paranoid to city types like me. Yet some of their fears have already been proven right by experts.

According to a 2016 report by the UK’s Committee on Climate Change, flooding in coastal areas costs the UK an average of £1 billion annually. The report goes on to say that the current measures implemented by the government to avoid floods and coastal erosion are “projected to be insufficient.”

Guys like Miles, though, are not waiting around to be rescued or for the government to put the appropriate measures in place.

“You feel awful for the people affected by the floods, and I would hate to be in that situation,” Miles says. “But at the end of the day, everyone relies on the emergency services to help them out, and very few people have something to help themselves out.”

“If the economy collapses tomorrow, we’re stuck.”
I think he means people like me, who would have no idea what to do without Nando’s or Netflix. In a Walking Dead type of scenario, Rick Grimes would probably not have me on his crew.

Some aspects about the place made me uncomfortable nonetheless. At the far end of the store, the U.S. Confederate flag is proudly displayed. When I ask Miles about it, he seems completely oblivious to its racist connotations.

“I just love the South of the U.S.,” he tells me. “I hope to move there one day.” His love for America is such that even something as inflammatory as a Confederate flag seems innocuous to him.

Another American export seems to be a preoccupation with Russia and the imminent threat of Moscow turning off our energy supplies. Miles and Hartley claim we are at the mercy of Vladimir Putin when it comes to keeping our lights on.

“Seventy percent of our power comes from Russia,” they tell me very matter-of-factly. “If we get into a conflict with Russia, and Russia decides to flick off the switch, supermarkets all over the country won’t be able to open their doors.”

But official government figures suggest otherwise. According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK does indeed rely heavily on imports of energy, though most of that energy doesn’t come from Russia, but from Norway — as peaceful a business partner as any country can get.

Although their theories are a bit far-fetched, I leave the place under the impression that their hearts are in the right place.

“Could you start a fire without matches and a lighter? Could you purify water so you can drink from a dirty pond?” Miles asks me rhetorically.

“How many people could hunt their own food, skin an animal, and eat it these days? Virtually none.”

 

[South hams hunter 8,833]

Just more loons spouting made up facts

[socks 32,253]

What the world would turn into Sunderland ??? 

[ollieollie 766]

I think we should all have an element of preparedness in our lives, I do. But some people take things a dash to far

[Blackbriar 8,568]

 We don't really have natural disasters here, but I reckon it's wise to have some type of provision, in the event a predicted  event - flooding, storm, heavy snow, power cut -  but, as far as I'm aware, there's not much protection from 10 megatonnes of depleted uranium !

[ollieollie 766]

12 minutes ago, Blackbriar said:

 We don't really have natural disasters here, but I reckon it's wise to have some type of provision, in the event a predicted  event - flooding, storm, heavy snow, power cut -  but, as far as I'm aware, there's not much protection from 10 megatonnes of depleted uranium !

Tin foil

[j j m 6,480]

if it happens it happens,i don't give a s,it

[socks 32,253]

1 hour ago, maxhardcore said:

Or Swansea

There would be plenty RIP to keep you going anyways lol

Nothing could be as much of a shit hole as Swansea .......

[Born Hunter 17,629]

Knowledge and skills would be more useful than tat from a shop. That’s for geeks. Lol

Ill be sound anyway, got a credit card and Netflix! 

[forest of dean redneck 11,189]

3 hours ago, Born Hunter said:

Knowledge and skills would be more useful than tat from a shop. That’s for geeks. Lol

Ill be sound anyway, got a credit card and Netflix! 

All the gear and no idea

[Greyman 25,220]

4 hours ago, Born Hunter said:

Knowledge and skills would be more useful than tat from a shop. That’s for geeks. Lol

Ill be sound anyway, got a credit card and Netflix! 

I,m not a prepper but I am prepared, just because I,m a bit old and crusty and occasionally I can't make it back home, I have enough gear to keep me alive over night in a small rucksack I take everywhere and I have enough stuff in my van to survive a good week if I had to, the funniest thing with them Preppers is the amount of battery,s they stockpile, make a bowdrill and learn to use it because making fire is more important than having a torch, they also stock pile tins instead of learning to kill clean and cook wild animals, being a prepper to most is just a fashion thing like being a vegan and in a real crisis that fat lad from the preppers shop would be on a spit over my fire dripping fat all over my roast potatoes

[forest of dean redneck 11,189]

If people reverted back to the 60/70s thinking put a torch or candles where you can find them have a little back up cooking source , have a few tins or easy to cook meals in cupboards don’t run out of food etc but now days everyone’s living on credit or one pay check away from poverty. 

 

[Daniel cain 42,837]

8 minutes ago, maxhardcore said:

There would be very little if any edible wild food or clean water in the event of a nuclear war.

Everything would be FOOKED .

Fat Derek next door would keep us going for a month no problemwith the rest of the porkers probably 3/5 months...... Then theres always the dogs......

[Greyman 25,220]

40 minutes ago, maxhardcore said:

There would be very little if any edible wild food or clean water in the event of a nuclear war.

Everything would be FOOKED .

I doubt nuclear war would be our downfall but even in the event of social meltdown the amount of nuclear power stations would cause massive problems as they break down, but on a brighter note at least you would,nt need a lamp as all the animals will glow in the dark,

[ginger beard 4,652]

All i'm reading is about protecting yourself with force. if i'm ever in a situation like nuclear holocaust or natural disastr my 1st thought would be to reach out and help those around me.